To produce a multicomponent coating, several electric-arc vaporizers are installed in the prior art vacuum-devices, each of the vaporizers being provided with a consumable cathode made from one metal, or with an electric-arc vaporizer having several consumable cathodes from different metals. The number of cathodes in the electric-arc vaporizer corresponds to the number of components contained in the resulting multicomponent coating. Metals of the consumable cathodes have different values of a cathode drop of potential.
In the prior art vacuum-arc apparatus a uniform multicomponent coating is produced through an increase in the number of consumable cathodes made from different metals. Such an increase in the number of consumable cathodes results in complicating the design of the electric-arc metal vaporizer.
Known in the art is an electric-arc vaporizer (USSR Author's Certificate No. 426,540) for producing a multicomponent coating, comprising an anode, consumable cathodes, an igniting electrode, a magnetic system, and a substrate.
The consumable cathodes are made from different metals and are mounted along the circumference on the end portion of the body of the electric-arc vaporizer.
A cathode spot is produced on one of the consumable cathodes, which spot moves along the circumference by means of a magnetic field having an arched configuration, the consumable cathodes being disposed along said circumference. Metals of the consumable cathodes vaporize alternately, and the flow of metallic plasma is condensed on the substrate, thereby forming a multicomponent coating.
The resulting multicomponent coating does not possess a sufficient uniformity since in the electric-arc vaporizer there occurs successive vaporization of the consumable cathodes.
An electric-arc metal vaporizer disclosed in the USSR Author's Certificate No. 368,807 allows a uniform multicomponent coating to be produced, said vaporizer comprising an anode, a plurality of consumable cathodes, igniting electrodes, a magnetic system, and a substrate.
The consumable cathodes are disposed close to one another. Metals of the consumable cathodes have different values of the cathode drop of potential.
The number of the cathodes corresponds to the number of components of the resulting multicomponent coating. Each consumable cathode is provided with an igniting electrode and a power supply.
Using the igniting electrodes, the cathode spots are obtained simultaneously on the working end portions of the consumable cathodes. A uniform magnetic field allows coincidence of the flows of metallic plasma of maximum intensity from each of the consumable cathodes.
Metals of the consumable electrodes are simultaneously vaporized and condensed on the substrate, thereby forming a uniform multicomponent coating.
The above electric-arc vaporizer, however, has as many power supplies as the number of the consumable cathodes installed therein, which results in a considerable complication of its design.